Circular loom for weaving



Feb. 5, 1935. w. A. DICKIE ET AL CIRCULAR LOOM FOR WEAVING Filed Nov.30, 1951' 5 Sheets-Shet 1 I Inventors /%W/M ATTORNEY Feb. 5, 1935. w. A.DICKIE ET AL CIRCULAR LOOM FOR WEAVING Filed Nov. 30, 1931 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Invento rs IIII;; I I I I I:! I...

wILLI/Q: A. DICKIE FRANK c. HALE Feb. 5, 1935. w. A. DICKIE ET ALCIRCULAR LOOM FOR wEAv'I'NG 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIGS].

Filed Nov. 30, 1951 WILLIAM A. DICKIE 11} l 13 F 1111K C. HAL tors 6i-Patented Feb. 5, .1935

CIRCULAR Loom ,roR wnvisq William Alexander Dickie and Frank C'orbynHale, Spondon, near Derby, England, assignors to Celanese Corporation ofAmerica, alcorpcration of Delaware Application November 30, 1931',Serial No. 578,003 In Great Britain December 20, 1930 18Claims. (oi.139-13) The present invention relates to circular looms, and isparticularly concerned with the supply of weft thread and the insertionthereof into'the fabric woven in such looms. Q

It is an object of the present invention to provide a circular loom inwhich the employment of a shuttle carrying a large body of weft with itthrough the shed is avoided. It is a further object of the invention toenable the weft inserting means in a circular loom to be light inweight, while at the same time the necessity for frequent stoppages forweft replenishment is avoided.

According to the present invention,the weft thread in a circular loom isprovided from a stationary weft supply, i. e. from a supply which doesnot pass through the warp shed. The .weft may be introduced into theshed by means of a weft carrier providedwith a hook, jaws, or othermeans to engage the weft thread whichis presented to it, and to releasethe weft thread when the required length has been laid in the shed.

The weft thread may be laid in the shed in measured lengths which aredrawn in theform of measured loops from a stationary supply and may bepresented in this manner to a weft carrier at one or more points roundthe periphery of the warps. Alternatively, the end of the weft threadcoming from the stationary supply may be engaged by the weft carrier andcarried through the shed, the weft thread being drawn from thestationary supply during the weft laying operation itself. The pullexerted by the weft carrier may be used to pull the'weft from thepackage.

The weft being drawn from a stationary package, the weft carrier may bemade light in weight, and remains constant in weight during theoperation of the loom, so being capable of rapid, steady motion throughthe shed. At the same time large stationary weft packages may be usedwhich enable the loom to runfor long periods without replenishment. Asabove stated, weft may be presented at more than one point round theloom, weft supply packages being provided at each point, and, moreover,more than one weft carrier may be employed, particularly in the case oflooms of large diameter.

The weft carrier or carriers may be propelled through the shed by anysuitable mechanism, that described in U. S. application S. No. 578,002filed November 30, 1931 corresponding to British application No.38432/30 being particularly advantageous. According to U. S.applications. No. 578.002 corresponding to British application No.38432/ 30 means are provided to impart a driving impulse to a weftcarrier asit reachesa gap in the warps, so that propulsion of the weftcarrier takes place without risk of damaging the warps. One or more ofsuch'gaps in the warps may be provided and presentation of the weft aswell as driving of the weft carrier may be effected at each of saidgaps. 'The'shedding of the warps and beat-up of the weft thread into thefabric may be effected by any suitable mechanism operating in sequencewith the picking mechanism.

As stated above, the weft thread may be presented for, insertion intothe warps as a. preformed measured loop, which may be sufficient eitherfor one pick or for two picks, the loop in the latter case being laid inthe form of a hairpin, the bight of which binds, the warps to form aselvedge at the edge of the fabric. The preformed loop of weft may bedrawn by means of a travelling device passing between two trappingdevices, in one of which theend of the weft is'trapped, and drawing theweft into a loop between the trapping devices. The weftloop thus drawnis released from the one trapping device and trapped by the other, andis presented to the weft carrier, which pulls it into the shed. Wherethe loop is sufficient for one pick only, the loop is then out near thesecond trapper, leaving the weft coming from the supply still trappedready for the next loop to be drawn. "If. the loop is sufficient for twopicks, the remaining length is held in the trapper until theweftcarriercomes round again and is out near the trapper justprior toengagement by the weft carrier.

. The preformed loop may be drawn from the stationary supply in anydirection, it being most convenient where a weft loop sufficient for twopicks is drawn thatthe bight of the loop should be drawn out to apointnear the end of the shed. 1 Thus,.,the loop may be drawn fromoutside the periphery of the warps in towards the end .of the shed orvit may be drawn from inside the loom outwards to the end of the shed,oragain it may be drawn vertically upwards or downwardsor at an angle tothe horizontaL- Similar conditions apply inithe case of a loopsufiicient for one pick only, but in this case it is preferable that theloop should be drawn from a point near the periphery of the warps in adirection away from such point, e. g. inwards towards the centre of theloom, so that presentation of the weft to the carrier cantake place nearthe point where the drawn loop is connected to the supply.

A very convenient form of loop drawing mechanism is described in U. S.application S. No. 484,785 filed September 27, 1930. According to thisspecification, movable trapping devices are provided, whose motioncauses the weft held by one device to be engaged by the other to form alength of thread stretched between the two devices in readiness forengagement by the passage of the drawing device between the two trappingdevices.

In the case where the end of the weft thread coming from the supply isgripped, or otherwise engaged by the weft carrier and drawn to the otherend of the shed, a trapping device may conveniently be provided forholding the end of the weft thread, in conjunction with means fortransferring it from the trapping device in which it is held to a wefttrap in the weft carrier itself. As the weft carrier passes through theshed the weft is drawn from the stationary supply and is caused to runthrough the open trapping device adapted to hold the end of the weftthread, so that when the shuttle reaches the other end of the shed andreleases the end of the pick, the trapper may be closed and the pick maybe cut off, leaving the trapper once more holding the end of the weftthread coming from the supply in readiness for the next pick to beinserted from that source of supply.

A weft stop motion may be provided at a point round the periphery of theloom, or in the gap or gaps in the warp threads, in order to stop theloom on breakage or exhaustion of the weft supply. Thus, the weft may becarried past a weft fork or similar device adapted to detect slacknessor absence of weft, and to operate a stop motion of a type similar tothat employed in ordinary looms. In order to maintain the weft threadlaid in the shed under tension during beat-up, a suction trapping deviceof the kind described in U. Ssapplication S. No. 526,317 filed March 30,1931 may be provided on the reed, adapted to secure the free end of theweft and to hold it under tension until beat-up occurs, when the freeend may be cut off, and sucked away.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention in connectionwith. a loom having driving means for the weft carrier of the typedescribed in U. S. application S. No. 578,002 corresponding to Britishapplication No. 38432/30, but it is to be understood that thisdescription is given by way of example only, and is in no waylimitative.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation and Fig. 2 apart plan of a loom for carrying out the invention;

Fig. 3 is a plan, Fig. 4 a side elevation, and Fig. 5 an end elevationof a dummy shuttle for the purpose of the invention;

Fig. 6 is a radial section through the tail of the reed, showing meansfor securing the weft end at the edge of the fabric during beat-up;

Figs. 7 and 8 are a sectional side elevation and plan view respectivelyof driving means for the weft carrier;

Figs. 9 and 10 show details of the mechanism shown in Figs. 7 and 8;

Figs. 11 and 12 are a side elevation and a plan view of a form ofweft-feeding mechanism;

Figs. 13, 14 and 15 show details of the mechanism illustrated in Figs.11 and 12;

Figs. 16 and 17 are an elevation and plan of another form ofweft-feeding mechanism;

Figs. 18, 19, and 20 are diagrammatic views showing the operation of theloop-drawing means shown in Figs. 16 and 17; and

Figs. 21 and 22 show details of a weft-carrier for use in connectionwith the mechanism described with reference to Figs. 16-20.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the warp threads 20 are taken from a beam 21provided with a brake band 22 which is held in tension by means of aspring 23 and a wing nut 24. The threads 20 leaving the beam 21-arethreaded through a spacing comb 25 carried on the frame 26 of themachine and pass thence round lease rods 27 to the healds 28, 29 bymeans of which they are formed in a shed. The threads then pass throughthe reed 30, and the fabric 31 formed in the loom passes over a spreaderring 32 to a take-up roller 33.

The healds 28, 29 pass over rods 34 carried from the outer pillars 35 ofthe loom. The healds are loaded with weights 36, 37 and spaced by meansof reeds 38. Each heald or each set of healds (say 4) is attached to amember 39 or 40 driven to produce shedding of the-warps 20 by means ofcams 41, 42 mounted on a cam plate 43. The cam plate 43 is in the formof an annular plate and carries an annular gear 44 on its inner edge sothat the cam plate 43 can be driven by of a gear 45 carried on the mainshaft 46 of the loom. The cam plate 43 is carried on the frame 26 of theloom by means of ball bearings 47, and is provided with a cover plate48.

The main shaft 46 also carries a small pinion 50 meshing with a gear 51mounted loosely on the stationary central pillar 52 of the loom, and asecond gear 53 attached to the gear 51 drives the take-up roller 33through a chain of gears 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, so that the take-up iseffected as fast as the fabric is produced.

As shown in Fig. 2, the loom comprises four reed sections 30 having gaps61 between the sections through which the shuttle is intermittentlydriven, in a manner hereinafter to be described. After the passage ofthe shuttle through each section, the corresponding reed section islifted to beat the weft just laid into the cloth. For this purpose eachreed section 30 slides on vertical rods 62 and carries vertical racks 63engaging with racks 64 carried on levers 65 which are pivoted at 66'nearthe central column 52 of the loom. Since the two levers 65 have to beactuated simultaneously in order to keep the reed 30 level duringbeat-up, they are actuated by separate cams 70, 71 working on the levers65 through suitable pairs of levers and links 72, 73, 74, 75. The levers73 and 74 are provided with followers 76, 77 and are pivoted at 78, 79.In Fig. 1 the members 74, 75, 77 and 78 are shown in dotted lines. Thepivot points 66 and 78 are carried on a spider, whose boss 78 surroundsthe shaft 52, and whose rim 79 is provided with studs 49 screwed intoand holding down the cover plate 48.

The gap 61 between the reed sections 30 is occupied by a shuttle box 91which does not rise and fall with the reed. The weft thread 163 issupplied from a stationary package 162, the end coming from the package162 passing through a stationary trapping device 151 fixed to theshuttle box 91.

Referring to Figs. 3, 4 and 5 the weft carrier or dummy shuttle 80(hereafter referred to as a shuttle) is provided with a spring-loadedtrap 81 at its nose, adapted to be automatically opened by a weftcarrying finger to receive the weft, in a manner hereinafter to bedescribed. The trap 81 is held in a closed position by means of a spring82, and is automatically opened to release Weft at the end of each pickby means of a small semi-circular projection 83, which is engaged andpress'eddown by the top of the shuttle box. In order that the shuttlemay run smoothly along the shuttle race constituted by the reedsections, runners 84 are provided along the length of the shuttle. Thereed, as shown in Fig. 1, has dents of L-shape, so that the runners onthe outer side of the shuttle can bear against the vertical limbs of thedents, while the warps are completely protected against rubbing. Agroove 85 is out along the outer side of the shuttle to accommodate theweft thread during picking. A strip 86 of friction material, such asordinary brake lining, is provided in the bottom of the shuttle, and aslot 87 is cut in the inner side of the shuttle, for a purpose whichwill be seen later. The weft thread is held during picking in theserrated jaws 88'of the trap 81, and runs back along the groove 85. Asloping surface 89 is provided on the under side of the trap 81 forengagement with the weft carrying finger, in order to open the trap asthe weft thread is inserted. Fig.6 is a radial sectionthrough the tailof the reed 30 showing means of the kind described in U. S. applicationS. No. 526,317 for trapping the end of the weft thread after it has beenpickedthroug'h the shed, and released from the shuttle. This device isindicated generally at 191', 193 on Fig. 2, Fig. 6 showing details.Forming part of the reed 30, and rising and falling therewith is a platemember 191 and a suction tube 192 connected by means of a flexible tubeto a suction vessel or pump (not shown). .After the shuttle 80 haspassed through the shed and as it passes into the shuttle box, theprojection 83 is forced down by thetopzof the shuttle box, thus causingthe trap 81 to open and release the end of the weft thread. The end "ofthe weft thread thus released is sucked'through opening 193'into thetube 192. As soon as the reed 30 rises to beat-up the weft threadiintothe fabric shown at 194 at the top of the figure, a sliding plate 195actuated by a T-shaped lever 196 moves to the left and traps the threadin the opening 193. In the lowest position-of the reed 30, the plate 195is held backagainst the action of a'spring 197 by means of a. stationaryrod 198, working upon one arm 199 of the lever 196, but when the reedrises, the'plate 195 moves to the left under the action of the spring197. The spring 197 acts at its other end upon a bell-crank lever 200,and holds back to the right aflknife 201 engaged by the upper arm 202 ofthe lever 200. As the reed 30reaches its top position, a lever 203secured to the pivot of the lever 200 engages with a stationary verticalrod 204, and is forced down, causing the knife 201 to move to the leftand to cut off the end of the weft thread, which is then sucked awaythrough the suction" tube 192. The levers 196, 200,203 are pivoted at205 andcarried by a bracket 206 attached to the tube 192. The other endof the weft is held during beat-up, as will be described later, and theaction of suction through the tube 192 draws the weft out in the shedunder moderate and uniform tension during-beat-up, the cutting off ofthe end being delayed until the last moment so. that the weft isproperly tensioned in the shed.

Figs. 7-10 illustrate shuttle-driving means similar to that described inU. S. application S. No. 578,002 filed November 30, 1931 correspondingto British application No. 38434/30. At the end of its travel throughthe shed, the shuttle 80 enters a shuttle box 91, and is there broughtto rest by means of a check member 92 having a projecting tooth.;93"engaging with the slot 87'on the'inner 'side of'the shuttle. The checkmember 92 is pivoted at 94, and is brought into checking position-by'means'of a lever 95 pivoted to it-at 96;" 'The lever 95 is operated bymeans of a-bell-crank lever 9'7, and a plunger 98, through a fcam: 99,-whichis carried in a cam groove {100011 the cam" plate 43', a;.fo1lower101 being provided atthe'lower end of the plunger 98 toengagewith thecam99. The bell-crank lever 9'7 andthe plunger-98 are "carried by abracket 102 mounted on the top plate 18 of the cam plate 43.1 Fig.9showsa-sectio'n throughthe toothed end of thecheck member "92, andthrough the shuttle and shuttle-box, clearly showing how the tooth 93 ofthe member 92 passes through a slot 106 into' the side of the shuttle"box 91 to: check the shuttle as it enters the shuttle box; I Aftercoming to rest, "the shuttle driven forward through the" next section ofthe reed by means of a friction wheel 110 working through a slotlll inthe bottom of the shuttle'box 91 and acting on the friction strip 86 inthe bottom of the shuttle. The {friction wheel 110 isco-nstantly drivenby means of pulleys 112, 113 and a belt 114 from a large pulley 1'15carried in a bearing 116 attached tc'lv the frame 26 of the loom, anddriven'bymeans' of a gear 117 meshing with the annulargear, 44" on theinner edge of the cam plate 43'. In order to'produce the intermittentpicking effect required to propel the shuttle through each reed sectionin turn, the

friction wheel 110 is raised into engagement with the shuttle, andforthis purpose the pulleys 112, 113 are carriedfuponlevers 120, 121pivoted at 122 and operated th'rough'links 123, 1 24 and a plunger 125from a cam 126 carried by the cam plate 43, a follower l2'lbeing,,provided at the bottomof the plungerv 125. The lever 124 and thep un'g f125are mounted in abracket 128 formed in one piece withithebracket 102 carrying the shuttle-clfi'e ekIoperating mechanism.

In'the operation of L theniechanism, after the shuttle has been checkedby themember 92 a fresh end o-f'weftisfed to the'shuttlebymechanismhereinafter to be described, and the cam 126 operates tofrai'serthefriction.wheel into engagement .vvith;the shuttle,.theraising of the friction wheel having also the effect of tightening thebelt 114. Shortly. after-the engagement of the friction wheel110thecheck member 92 is withdrawn by operation of-the cam 92 and theshuttle is driven through'the next shed, to be P checked in thev nextshuttle box by a further member 92,;and soon. p r

The method ofinserting an end of weft thread into the shuttle will nowbe described with reference to Figs. 11 and 12. Shortlyafter theprojection 83 has been forced down by the top of the shuttle box 91 torelease the end *of the inserted weft thread, in the; manner explainedabove, a weft-carrying finger; 131 mounted upon a horizontal rod 132carried. in stationary bearings 133 beneath :the, .shuttle box isactuated through a bell-crank lever 134, a link 135, a lever 136, and'aplunger 137 by means of a earn 138 fixed in a groove139 in the cam plate43, a follower 140 being provided at the lower end of the plunger 137.The fingerg131 is actuated by the cam 138 to move inwardly across'thenose of the shuttle 180, Wherexthefinger is engaged by the slopingsurface 89 on the under side of the weft trap 81, (shown i'nFigs.?3andwl), whichis forced open by the finger. On passage of'the' shuttle 80past the finger 131 the finger is withdrawn from the trap whichautomatically closes on the thread under the action of the spring 82.The weft thread extending from the trapping device 151 to the supplypackage lies across the path of the finger 131 and is drawn thereby intothe trap 81, and held there when the trap closes. The finger 131 is heldup towards the nose of the shuttle 80, by means of a plunger142 actingupon a horizontal plate 143 fixed to the horizontal rod 132 at 143',143". The plunger 142, which is loaded by means of a spring 144, isactuated through a lever 145, link 146, lever 147 and plunger 148 from acam 149 inthe cam plate 43. After the passage of the finger 131 inwardlyacross the nose of the shuttle, the plunger 142 is allowed by the cam149 to drop under the action of the spring 144 and the finger 131 fallsback from the nose of the shuttle, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 13,and under the action of the cam 138 passes outwardly across the nose toits original position. This motion clears the finger 131 from the weftthread held in the trap 81. The picking wheel 110 is then raised, andthe shuttle travels through the shed with one end of the weft clamped inits jaws, thus withdrawing the yarn from the weft supply. It will thusbe understood that while the weft trap 81 is opened by the contact ofthe projection 83 with the top of the shuttle box 91, to release theinserted weft end, the trap is opened by the finger 131 for theengagement in the trap of a new weft end, both operations being carriedout in the same shuttle box. The shuttle 80 is thus enabled to progressround the loom, from shuttle box to shuttle box, releasing inserted weftends and picking up new weft ends at every box.

In co-operation with the weft carrying finger 131 are two trappingdevices 151, 152, the trapping device 151 being fixed to the shuttlebox, while the trapping device 152 rises and falls with the reed 30.Both devices are actuated by means of plungers 153, working in guides154 by means of a lever 155, a link 156, a lever 15,7, and a plunger158, a cam 159 acting upon a follower 160 at the lower end of theplunger 158. The end of the weft thread is held in the trapper 151 whilethe finger 131 moves inwardly, the weft coming from a package 162 shownat the right hand side of Fig. 2. While the weft finger 131 is movingback to its original position, after having deposited the weft thread inthe shuttle trap 81, the trappers 151, 152 are being opened by means ofthe cam 159. The shuttle is then picked through the shed and the weftthread drawn by the motion of the shuttle from the supply package runsthrough the open jaws of the trappers 151, 152. As the shuttle comes torest in the next shuttle box at the far end of the shed, the lever 155allows the trappers 151, 152 to close. As shown in Figs. 14 and 15, thetrapper 152 is provided with a cutting knife 161, the preliminary motionof the trapper shown in these figures having the effect of gripping theweft, while the final motion cuts the weft between the knife 161 and theedge of the trapper 152. The reed is now raised, carrying with it thetrapper 152 which still grips the thread, and in this manner the weftthread is cut off from the supply and beaten up into the fabric. The endof the beaten up weft is only lightly held by the trapper 152, so thaton descent of the reed and trapper, the end is pulled from the trapper.The end of the weft coming from the supply is retained as before in thetrapper 151, and held across the path of the weft carrying finger 131ready for another insertion when the shuttle returns to the same shuttlebox after completing its circuit of the loom.

,Figs. 16 and 17 show another form of weft presenting means, embodying aweft-loop drawing mechanism similar to that described in U. S.application S. No. 484,785. In the mechanism shown in Figs. 16 and 1'7,weft thread is drawn into a loop sufficient for a single pick, this loopthen being presented to the shuttle and carried into the shed. For thispurpose the weft thread 163coming from a supply package 162 by way of apigtail guide 162 is held in a trapping device 164 mounted together witha similar trapping device 165 upon a rotating plate 166. The rotation ofthe plate causes the weft thread trapped in the device 164 to cross andpass into the jaws of the trapper 165. The length of weft between thetrappers 164, 165 is then engaged by means of a peg 167 carried by abracket 167 projecting from the side of an endless chain 168. The chain168 is caused to run round three pulleys 169, 170 and 171, which lead ittowards the centre of the loom on its lower run and outwardly on theupper run.

The engagement of the weft thread by the peg 167 drawsthe weft threadout into a loop between the trappers 164, 165 towards the centre of theloom, causing it to pass over the shuttle box 91. A guard tube 172 isprovided, carried by brackets 172 and having a slot 173 in one side forthe passage of the bracket 167 carrying the peg 167. The loop is shownalmost fully drawn in Figs. 18 and 19, and it will be seen that the tube172 supports the loop of weft as it is drawn towards the centre of theloom, and prevents it from being caught in adjacent mechanism. Whenthe'peg 167 reaches the inner sprocket 169 the weft thread is releasedby the rotation of the peg round the sprocket, thepeg being of such aheight as to draw out the loop on the level of the centre of thesprocket 169. The release of the end of the loop from the peg 167 isshown in Fig. 20. It will be seen that in order to avoid collisionbetween the peg 167 and the tube 172, the top of the tube is cut away atthe end.

Immediately upon release of the bight of the Weft loop, the trapper 164releases one end of the loop, while the other end remains trapped in'the trapper 165. When the dummy shuttle enters the shuttle-box 91 theweft thread near the trapper 165 is pressed down into the shuttle boxfor engagement with the shuttle by means of a depresser member 174carried upon the end of the lever 124 (described with reference to Figs.7 and 8), operated simultaneously with the raising of the friction wheel110 which drives the shuttle through the shed. The depresser 174 isshown in the downward position in Figs. 18 and 19, in which position itcauses the weft to be engaged by the shuttle as the shuttle is picked.In this manner the weft thread which is still gripped in the trappingdevice 165 is picked into the shed, the free end released from thetrapping device 164 being taken to the other end of the shed, and heldby means of asuction trapper such as has been described with referenceto Fig. 6.

' The rotation of the plate 166 is so timed that the trapping device 165is at its nearest point to the end of the reed 30 during the beat-up,which subsequently takes place. After beat-up, a cutting device inassociation with the trapper 165 cuts the weft beyond the trappingdevice 165, the end of the weft coming from the supply being stillgripped therein." The cutting device may be separate from "the trappingdevice,.as described in U. S. application S. No. 484,785, or it maycomprise a cutting blade secured to a jaw of the trapping device,similar to the cutter 161 on the trapper 152. The operation is repeatedin similar manner when the shuttle has completed its circuit of theloom, the trapping'devices 16 i, 165, however, having interchanged theirpositions inthe time that the peg 167 has been passed completely-roundthe three'pulleys 169, 170, 171. I Y

The whole device is driven through thesprocket 169by' means ofgears 176,177 from a shaft 178 driven by means of skew gears 179 from the mainshaft 46. of the loom. By means of bevel gears 180' this motion'istransmitted from the shaft 178 to four other shafts symmetricallydisposed upon the centre column 52 0f the loom, each shaft drivingone ofthe four loop-forming devices arranged at the pickingpositions. All thegears, bevel gearsand sprockets are carried in a large bracket 181 whichis rigidly fixed to the stationary shaft 52 by means ofpa key 183. Thechain 168 is driven fromthe sprocket 169 and in turn drives the sprocket171. The motion of the sprocket-.171 is transmitted by skew gears 185 toa shaft 186 and thence by skew gears 18'? to the plate 166. The plate166 is carried on a circular plate 188 which, on its under side isprovided with cams 189 adapted to operate the trapping devices 164,165,:and the cutting devices in' association therewith as the devicesrotate beneath the plate 188. The whole assembly of, sprockets 170,1.71, skew gears 185, 187, shaft 186 and plate 188 is carried upon abracket 190 fixed to one of the side columns 35 of the loom.

Figs. 21- and -22 show details of ;the dummy shuttle for use with theloop-drawing device described above. The shuttle 210 has a. widegroove2111from end'to end of its upperface'and is provided with ashortweft-engaging horn 212 nearits rear end. The horn base 213 isscrewed firmly to the shuttle and lies flush with the bottom of-thegroove'211. The-end 1750f the depresser member 174 engagesthe weftthread and presses it down into the outer side of the groove 211, sothat the, horn212 passes 'over the weft thread as it is impelled throughthe shed'by the wheel 110; Since the base 213 of the horn 212 is flushwiththe bottom of the groove 211, the finger 1'75-may be allowed toremain in, the outer side .of thegroove until the shuttle is passedwithout injury, since there is nothing on the shuttle to foulit.- g

' What we claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:' 1 1. In acircular loom having a weft-carrier, the

combination of a weft-carrier race extending round the loom, meansadapted to propel the weft-carrier progressively in one direction roundsaid race, means disposednear-atleastone point along said race adaptedtodirect weft from ajstathe weft-carrier progressively in one directionround said race, means disposed near at least one point along said raceadapted to draw lengths of weft from a stationary supply for engagementby said weft-carrier as it passes said point during its passage roundthe race, and means adapted to sever weftfrom the supply so thatthe-weftcarrier by its passage round said race lays the weft in the formof lengths;

3; In a circular loom having a weft-carrier, the combination of aweft-carrier race extending round the loom, means adapted to propel theweft-carrier progressively in one direction round said race, grippingmeans on said weft-carrier adapted to seize weft supplied at at leastone point along said race from a stationary supply so that on propulsionthe said weft-carrier draws weft from the supply and lays it in the formof lengths, and means adapted to sever weft lengths from the weftsupply.

4. In a circular loom having a weft-carrier, the combination of aweft-carrier race having gaps therein extending round the loom, meansdisposed at the gapsinsaid race adapted topropel the weft-carrierprogressively in one direction round said race, means adapted to drawfrom a stationary supply lengths of weft sufiicient'to extend from oneof saidgaps to another of said gaps for successive engagement by saidweftcarrier at the first of such gaps,fand means adapted to sever weftfrom the supply so that the weft-carrier by its passage round said racelays the weft in the form of lengths;-

5. In a circular loom having a weft-carrier, the combination ofweft-carrier ,race'extending round the loom, means adapted to propel theweft-carrier progressively in one direction round said race, meansadapted todraw a length of weft from a stationary supply, means'disposednear at least one point; along said race adapted to hold temporarily theend of the weft thread running from the weft supply, gripping means onsaid weft-carrier, said gripping means being adapted to seize saidweftbetweensaid holding means and the supply so; that on propulsion of theweft-carrierthe weft, is laid'in lengths by the weft-carrienand meansadapted to sever weft lengths from the weft supply.

'6. In a circular loom. having a weft-carrier,

the combination of a weft-carrier race extending round the 100m, meansadapted to propel the weft-carrier progressively in one'direction roundsaid race, means adapted todraw a'length of, weft from a stationarysupply, means disposed near at least one point along said race adaptedto hold temporarily the end of theweft thread running from the weftsupply, gripping means on said weft-carrier, means adapted to engagetheweft thread between saidholding means and the weft supply and to carrysaid weft into said gripping means so that on propulsion. of theweft-carrier the weft is laid in lengths by the weft-carrier, and meansadapted to sever weft lengths from the weft supply. '7. In a circularloom having a weft-carrier, the combinationof a weft-carrier raceextending round the .loom,-means adapted to propel the weft-carrierprogressively in one direction round said race, means disposed near atleast one point along said race adapted to direct weft from' astationary supply to said weft-carrier, means adapted to guide warpthreads as a sheet, shedding means adapted to divide. said warp sheetinto a shed adapted tobe penetrated by said weft-carrier so that thesaid weft-carrier lays the weft within the said warp shed in pick form,and means adapted to sever a pick from the weft supply after insertionof the. pick. in the warp shed. 1

8. In a circular: loom having a weft-carrier,

the combination of a weft-carrier race extending round the loom, meansadapted to propel the weft-carrier progressively in one direction roundsaid race, meansdisposed near at least one point along said race adaptedto direct weft from a stationary supplyto said weft-carrier, a horn onsaid weft-carrier adapted to engage said weft so that on propulsion'ofthe said weftcarrier the weft is laid by said weft-carrier, and meansadapted to sever weft from the Weft supply so that the weft-carrierby'its passage round said race lays the weft in the form of lengths.

9. In a circular loom having a weft-carrier, the combination of aweft-carrier race having gaps therein extending round the loom, meansdisposed at the gaps insaid race adapted to propel the weft-carrierprogressively in one direction round said race, means adapted to drawfrom a stationary supply lengths of weft sufiicient to extend from oneof said gaps to another of said gaps, means adapted to present-one ofsaid lengths to said weft-carrier at the first of such gaps, meansadapted to guide warp threads as a sheet, shedding means adapted todivide said warp-sheet into a shed adapted to be penetrated by saidweft-carrier so that the said weft is laid in the warp shed by theweft-carrier on its passage round the race, means adapted to hold therear of each weft length after its insertion into the warp shed, andmeans adapted to sever weft lengths from theweft supply.

10. In a circular loom having a weft-carrier, the combination of aweft-carrier race having gaps therein extending round the loom, meansdisposed at the gaps in said race-adapted to propel the weft-carrierprogressively in one direction round said race, means-adapted to drawfrom a stationary supply lengths of weft sufficient to extend from oneof said gaps to another of said gaps, means adapted to present one ofsaid lengths to said weft-carrier at the first of such gaps, meansadapted to guide warp threads as a sheet, shedding means adapted todivide said warp-sheet into a shed adapted to be penetrated by saidweft-carrier so that the said weft is laid in the warp shed by theweft-carrier on its passage round the race, means adapted to seize andhold the front end of each weft length after its insertion into the warpshed, and means adapted to sever weft lengths from the weft supply.

11. In a circular loom having a weft carrier, the combination of aweft-carrier race having gaps therein extending round the loom, meansdisposed at the gaps in said race adapted to propel the Weft-carrierprogressively in one direction round said race, means adapted to drawfrom a stationary supply lengths of weft sufiicient to extend from oneof said gaps to another of said gaps, means adapted to present one ofsaid lengths to said weft-carrier at the first of such gaps, meansadapted to guide warp threads as a sheet, shedding means adapted todivide said warp-sheet into a shed adapted to be penetrated by saidweft-carrier so that the said weft is laid in the warp shed by theweft-carrier on its passage round the race, a trapping device intoengagement with which the front end of each weft length is drawn bysuction after the insertion of said length into the Warp shed, and meansadapted to sever weft lengths fromthe weft supply.

12. In a circular loom having a weft-carrier, the combination of aweft-carrier race' extending round the loom, means adapted to applypropelling impulses to the weft-carrier so that the 'weftcarrierproceedsin one direction round said race by virtue of its momentum, meansdisposed near at least one point along said race adapted to direct weftfrom a stationary supply to said weft-carrier, and means adapted tosever Weft from the weft supply so that the weftcarrier by its passageround said race lays the weft in the form of lengths.

13. In a circular loom, the combination of a reed, having at least onegap therein, forming a weft-carrier race extending round the loom, aweft-carrier adapted to travel along said reed, means disposed in thegap adapted to impart impulses to said weft-carrier so that theweftcarrier travels inone direction round said reed by virtue of itsmomentum, means disposed near said gap adapted to direct weft from astationary supply to the weft-carrier, and means adapted to sever weftfrom the weft supply so that the weft-carrier by its passage round theloom lays the weft in the form of separate lengths.

14. In a circular loom having a weft-carrier, the combination of amulti-section reed forming a weft-carrier race extending round the loom,means adapted to propel the weft-carrier progressively in one directionround said race, means disposed near at least one point along said raceadapted to direct weft from a stationary supply to said weft-carrier,means adapted to guide warpthreads as a sheet, shedding means adaptedtodivide said warp sheet into a shed adapted to be penetrated by saidweft-carrier so that the said weft-carrier lays the weft within the saidwarp shed in pick form, means adapted to operate said reed sections tobeat up the weft laid in the shed, and means adapted to sever lengths ofweft from the weft supply.

15. In a circular loom, means adapted to guide warp threads as a shedhaving gaps therein, means for imparting a propelling impulse to a weftcarrier at such gaps, means adapted to direct weft from a stationarysupply to the weftcarrier, so that, by virtue of its momentum, saidweft-carrier penetrates the warp shed and lays the weft in pick form insaid shed, means adapted to bring the weft carrier to rest prior to eachpropelling operation, and means adapted to sever lengths of weft fromthe supply.

16. In a circular loom, means adapted to guide warp threads as a shedhaving gaps therein, means for imparting a propelling impulse to a weftcarrier at such gaps, means adapted to direct weft from a stationarysupply to the weftcarrier, so that, by virtue of'its momentum, saidweft-carrier penetrates the warp shed and lays the weft in pick formin'said shed, means adapted to bring the weft carrier to rest prior toeach propelling operation, means to prevent said weft carrier from beingpropelled by said propelling means until a desired instant,'and meansadapted to sever lengths of weft from the'supply.

1'7. In a circular loom, means comprising individual healds for guidingwarp threads as a shed having gaps therein, cam means adapted to operatesaid healds to effect shedding, means for imparting a propelling impulseto a weft carrier at such' gaps, means adapted to direct weft from astationary supply to the weft-carrier, so that, by virtue of itsmomentum, said weft-carrier penetrates the warp shed and lays the weftin pick form in said shed, means adapted to bring the weft carrier torest prior to each propelling operation, and means adapted to severlengths of weft from the supply.

- 18. A circular loom comprising means including individual healds forguiding warp threads as a shed having gaps therein, cam means adapted tooperate said healds to effect shedding, means adapted to impart apropelling impulse to a weft carrier at such gaps, means adapted todirect weft from a stationary supply to said weft carrier so that, byvirtue of its momentum, said weft carrier penetrates the warp shed andlays the weft in pick form in said shed, means adapted to bring the weftcarrier to rest prior to each propelling operation, means adapted toprevent said weft carrier from being propelled by said propelling meansuntil a desired instant, a reed up the weft laid in the warp shed, arotatable I cam ring adapted to control the weft carrier propellingmeans, the weft propelling release mechanism, the healds and the reed,and means adapted to sever lengths of weftfrom the supply. WILLIAMALEXANDER DICKIE.

FRANK CORBYN HALE.

